JPH03177144A - Method and system of automatic call transmission - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To reduce maintenance work by generating a routing signal supplied to a network for connecting an incoming call to an agent station. CONSTITUTION: A system is provided with a routing means for responding to a receiving means to generate the routing signal, supplied to a network 14 for connecting a miniature hole to agent stations 20, 22 through the network. Therefore, a telephone call generated in the network 14 is automatically transmitted to the respective agent stations 20, 22 connected to the network 14 through a network service interface 16. Consequently, the maintenance work is a minimum, to be performed at a low cost.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic call transmission system for automatically transmitting an incoming telephone call to one of a plurality of agent stations.

[Prior art] Automatic call forwarding (ACD) is an “80%
It efficiently transmits 0° calls and the like to telemarketing agents and service inquiry centers, and provides specific real-time call management and notification generation capabilities.

ACD is a unique communications product in that it directly supports the operation and management of a customer's business. ACD
monitors the status of each agent and selects the best agent capable of handling a particular marketing or service request when an incoming call is received.

The ACD also provides detailed reports on the agent's work performance, reporting aggregate numbers such as the number of calls handled and time spent at various stages during call handling.

Generally, there are two forms of ACD. The first form is
It uses customer-operated switching hardware to connect an incoming telephone call to an agent handling the call.

This switching hardware requires significant initial cost and is associated with subsequent maintenance effort and expense. As this first type of ACD,
It is commercially available from Technechron Infoswitch Corporation, San Jose TX and Aspect Telecommunications, DFW Airport, California.

A second type of ACD is performed as a service provided by a central office system (e.g., commercially available from New York Telephone).
rex ACD). Although this service greatly eases constraints on the location of agents and frees them from hardware maintenance, it inevitably reduces functionality and customer management capabilities.

E. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one form, the present invention is an automatic call transmission system for automatically transmitting telephone calls originating on a network to an agent station connected to the network via a network service interface. are the general characteristics.

The system includes receiving means connected to the network by a network service interface for receiving agent status messages and call arrival messages from the network indicating that an incoming call has occurred on the network.

The system also includes routing means responsive to the receiving means for generating a routing signal that is provided to the network for connecting the minihaul to the agent station via the network.

This greatly reduces the restrictions on automatic call forwarding systems to ubiquitous agents as long as they are connected to the network, and provides much greater flexibility in determining which agents to forward incoming calls to.

At the same time, because the system uses the network's switching hardware to actually perform the switching functions, the cost and maintenance associated with switching hardware is avoided.

In addition, the system allows flexibility in monitoring and reporting agent actions for administrative purposes by allowing system operators to maintain control over routing and any data associated with routing. The Rukoto.

In a preferred embodiment, the routing signals are based on status signals from the received agent station, but are not based on characteristics of the agent station (e.g., capabilities, identity of the agent at the station, or matching of the agent station) or characteristics of the incoming telephone call. (e.g. dialed phone number,
(such as the dialed telephone number of the incoming call or the geographic location of the incoming call), which would result in the incoming call being connected to the appropriate agent station.

The routing signal establishes a telephone connection from the routing means on the network to the agent station, and then incoming calls and telephone connections are established to the agent station.

The network may be a public or private network.

The network service interface consists of a subscriber service digital network interface, and status messages are provided in accordance with the X.25M standard.

The agent station is driven by a personal computer or workstation, or by a device with dedicated communication VJ control capabilities via a network service interface.

Also, the agent station may assume multiple agent states with a sign-off condition that the agent station does not transmit agent state messages to the routing means.

There may also be multiple states associated with the sign-on condition during which the agent station supplies agent state messages to the routing means.

The agent stage gin can initiate a signoff condition outgoing call. Also, in the sign-on condition, the agent station provides a call initial signal to the routing means, after which the routing means selects a destination telephone number to the agent station. moreover,
The agent station may include an automated agent or may include an interactive display terminal for interacting with a human agent.

A so-called host processor containing information relating to the business underlying the automatic call transmission system is connected to receive and receive information from the routing means and the agent stages.

A system management station is connected to receive information from the routing means regarding the operation of the automatic call transmission system and to provide control signals to the routing means. The control signals include signals for programming the generation of routing signals by the routing means.

Also connected is an agent monitoring station for receiving agent execution information from the routing means and for providing control signals to the routing means. Said control signal relates to confirmation of the behavior of the monitored agent.

In another aspect, the invention generally features a plurality of agent stages and a call router apparatus for directing incoming telephone calls to agents' stations.

Each of the agent stations assumes a plurality of agent states in accordance with its operation, and supplies agent state messages including state transition notifications and state transition requests;
It also responds to a force response signal that forces a transition into the agent state.

The call router device is connected to receive transition announcements and transition requests from agent stations and to provide forced response signals to agent stations.

In a preferred embodiment, the agent station includes means for waiting for a force response signal from the state management means before changing state when a migration request is issued.

The agent station can have an active state in which an incoming call is connected, a ready state in which the agent station is ready to receive an incoming call, and a ready state in which the agent station is not ready to receive an incoming call - or several other states. have

By employing a transition request and a forced response, the possibility of the call router device initiating a transition from the ready state after assigning the call and before transmitting the call is avoided.

The agent station also includes a setup state and an idle state in which it can initiate outgoing telephone calls.

The agent station has one or more input devices for initiating state transitions and a programmable transition table for determining which transitions include transition requests and error transition announcements.

The call router device has a programmable response table that indicates which forced response signals (I) should be provided for which migration requests.

In another aspect, the present invention is an automatic call transmission system in which a call router device can programmatically change the validity of agent status at an agent station as a function of the number of incoming calls occurring in the automatic call transmission system. Its general characteristics are:

In another aspect, the invention generally features an improved process for automatically routing incoming calls originating on a network.

In one aspect, an incoming call announcement signal is sent from a call receiver device to a call transmitting device, and the call transmitting device sends a response signal to the call receiving device after receiving the announcement signal, such that backward communication is performed. be exposed.

In other aspects, the call receiving device generates a pre-announcement signal indicating characteristics of the incoming telephone call before transmitting the incoming call to the transmitting device.

In other aspects, a call receiving device receives a call line recognition signal, and the call line recognition is used to determine which of the plurality of transmission devices to route an incoming call to.

In a preferred embodiment, an incoming call is not routed to the transmission device until there is a call response at the transmission device. A tone is then provided to the call receiving device which is disconnected when the incoming call is connected to the transmitting device.

The transmitting device does not respond to incoming calls not placed by the call receiving device while signed on.

In another aspect, the invention provides a communication connection in a network between a service requesting station and one of a plurality of agent service provisioning stations connected to the network via a network service interface and providing agent status messages to the network. Its general feature is that it is a system for automatically configuring the system.

The system is connected to the network by a network service interface and includes receiving means for receiving service request messages and agent status messages from the network indicating that an incoming service request has been generated on the network by a service requesting station.

The system also includes routing means responsive to the receiving means for generating routing signals provided to the network for connecting incoming service requests to the agent service provisioning station via the network.

In a preferred embodiment, the routing signals are based on status signals for connecting incoming service requests to the appropriate agent service provisioning station. A network may be a public or private telephone or data network over which voice, image, or video signals are communicated.

Other advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description of the examples, claims and appendices.

[Examples] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

Structure In FIG. 1, a call delivery (ACD) system 10 is shown for transmitting incoming calls, such as from a caller 12, to an agent station, such as station 20.22, connected to a public network 14.

Each component of ACD system 10 connects to public network 14 via network service interface 16.
The network service interface is, in a preferred embodiment, an Integrated Systems Digital Network (IsDN) interface, as will be described in detail below.

Call router 18 is used to cause network 14 to connect incoming calls from caller 12 to one of a number of agent stations.

Call router 18 selects an agent station based on information received from the agent stations or other information. Also, this call router-18
The system functions to ensure that agent and system data is collected as needed for management purposes. For outgoing calls, the call router 18 is implemented as required by the particular ACD application, such as in agent-agent and agent-supervisor communications, or in destination selection for telemarketing campaigns or external consultations. Handle queues (interrupts).

An implementation for agent stations is shown, namely a non-integrated agent station 24 and an integrated agent station 22.

The non-integrated agent station 24 includes a separate device 24 for controlling network connections and business activities (
It has a handset 26 that is separate from a personal computer (or workstation) 28 used by the agent to place catalog orders or service calls, for example.

At the integrated agent station 22, the system lO
It has a card 31 for connecting and controlling a handset 32.

Agent stations 20.22 are used by agents to interact with system 10, and as described below, these stations 20.22 are controlled by call router 18 via X625 command messages transmitted over network 14. .

External host processor 34 contains business databases (eg, order entry, service schedules, etc.) used by operators of ACD system 10.

Host processor 34 can be connected directly to router device 18 by external processor interface 36 or by network service interface 16.
The control router 18 can be located remotely from and connected to the control router 18 via.

Other components of system 10 include automated repeaters 3g, 40 (either directly connected to call router 18 in a set of B channels or connected by an interface and network 14); There is a monitoring station 42 and a system management station 43.

Automated repeater 38 or 40 is a system for performing automated interaction with callers.

This works quickly and is useful for call routers, for example, in deciding which agent to route an incoming call to.
8 etc.

In this l5DN ACD embodiment, such a device is an l5DN channel terminal (on a mechanized agent station or router device) having an l5DN interface (repeater 40 in FIG. 1).
It is configured as a repeater 38) in FIG.

A voice response unit (VRU) is used in place of automated repeater 38 or 40 to execute messages in addition to executing each instruction message and receiving tones.

Agent monitoring station 42 includes an interface to allow a monitor to obtain agent performance information (collected by call router 18).

The system management station 43 is operated by a system administrator A.
An interface for monitoring, diagnosing and maintaining the CD system 10 is provided.

In the presently preferred embodiment, ACD system 10 switches calls from incoming caller 12 to one of a plurality of agent stations, receives information on the status of agent stations 20, 22, and performs other communications and control functions. Integrated service digital network (
ISDN).

In this way network service interface 16
uses the 15DN interface for telecommunications networks defined by international and national US standards bodies.

The interface has a separate message (b) for connection control.
(ased) directs the combination of circuit-switched and packet-switched image information transmission via the signal channel.

There are two main types of 15DN interfaces.

One is the Base Rate Interface (BRI) at 144kb/s and the other is the -next rate at 1544kb/s (North America or 0T) or 204gkb/s (Europe and most other areas). interface (PRI).

BRI has two 64kb/5bears used for voice, data or other digital code messages.
er (B) channel and a 16 kb/s delta (D) channel used to transmit status messages and other messages between call router 18 and other components.

PRI, on the other hand, has 23 (USA) or 3° (Europe) B channels and 111- (64kb/s
) D channel is provided.

Agent stations 20 and 22 typically use BRI, and call router 18 typically uses BRI in small systems (eg, fewer than 50 agent stations).
RI, and for larger systems PRI
use. By using such an interface, control messages can be transmitted simultaneously in real time to the agent station via the D channel, while at the same time regular telephone operations on the B channel and B
Transmission of status messages on the D-channel or the D-channel may take place.

Communication between agent stations 20, 22 and host processor 34 can be performed on the B channel or the D channel using either circuit-switched or packet-switched communications.

The characteristics and performance of the interface are described in the following documents.

″l5DN Protocols for Co.
nnection Control'' (W.

Harman end C,F, Newma
n) IEEE Journal ON 5el
ected Areas in Comm
unication, Vol. 7.
No. 7゜September, 1989 ``Tutorial, IntegratedSe
rvices Digital Network
ks (ISDN)' (Stalling
s, W,) (Second Edit
i on1988) Library of CongressNo.
, 87-83433. IEEE Catal
og No, EHO270-9゜'l5DN,
The Integrated Services
Digital Network.

rk, Concepts, Method
s.

Systems (Springer-Verla
g Berlin, Heidelberg19
88) Bocker, P.) Internationally,
The l5DN standard is recommended (1,110-1,
470) in the CCITT I series. The standard most directly related to the present invention is 1.430/
431 (physical layer), 1.440/441 (link layer), and 1.450/452 (network layer).

As will be described in more detail later, the call transmission function used in the present invention is configured in accordance with the standards defined by the US National Standards Group Tl51 (Call Transmission Service, ASNI Standards Group Tl51.1. Document Tl51.1 89- 467).

Other available l5DN coil transmission capabilities are precisely defined and used in commercially available remote transmission vendor products that specify l5DN interfaces in the United States.

For example, AT&T 5ESS Switch, l5DN
Ba5ic Rat InterfaceSpec
5E6 Generic P
program, Document 5D5-900-
321. Part VA, 5eition 3.2
．． As described in 4 etc., commercially available AT
&T 5 ESS switching products employ l5DN call transmission.

Agent state messages and control messages are sent to the international layer t? s (CCI TT) network service interface, X, 25[S, between the data terminal equipment and the packet data network. X,25 used for l5DN network service interfaces as used in the present invention
CCITT recommends terminal device support.
dati.

It is standardized to nX, 31.

Integrated agent station 22, router device 18
A common underlying hardware platform that can be used for , agent monitoring station 42 and system management station 43 includes a personal computer or workstation with an SDN terminal adapter card.

For example, the platform may include an AST model 80386/25 personal computer running Interactive as a processing platform.
e systems Corporation
model BP- can be equipped with UNIX (version 386/jx) and has a UNIX driver to provide an l5DN interface.
100C@end adapter card (sold by Teleos Communications, Inc., Eatontown, New Jersey) can be incorporated.

agent station 22, call router 18,
The functional roles of agent monitoring station 42 and system management station 43 are defined by software.

As a display for personal computers or workstations in stations 22, 42 and 43 and router 18, O8F/Motif can be used as the basis for the user interface (
IBM's cheaper integrated agent station 22
It can be based on an XT-C1ass or AT-C1ass personal computer, but in this case the agent software is MS rather than UNIX.
/DO3 must be driven.

The non-integrated, low cost agent station 20 may use the 15DN integrated circuit available from Advanced Micro Devices, Sunnyvale, Calif., and may be programmed as a stand-alone device.

Other computers (eg, mainframes or microcomputers) with an I5DN interface can also be used for call router 18.

Fault tolerant computers sold by Stratus or Tandem Computer Corporation are advantageous in that they have high performance (especially for large systems) and excellent reliability. A fault-tolerant computer is capable of continuing its operation despite system hardware and software failures.

FIG. 3 shows an agent station 22, a call router 18, an agent supervisor station 42, and a system management station 43 (the latter two being a combined management/
The software configuration for a monitoring station 42/43) is shown.

Agent station 20 has the same configuration as shown for station 22.

In Figure 3, integrated management/monitoring station 42/4
3 is shown connected directly to the call router 18, whereas the agent monitoring station 42 and system management station 43 in FIG. There is. Any of these configurations can be adopted.

The configuration for system management station 43 is the same as for agent management station 42.

That is, the main difference between these two stations is only in their access to data in optical form. Agent station 22 is typically connected to the network using BRI, and call router 18 can use either BIR or PRI.

The communications driver layer 44 (the UNIX version of the Teleos driver for the BP-100C product) is sent from the network 14 to both the agent station 22 and the call router 18 for l5DN events and X,25 events. Translate messages.

The communication driver layer 44 provides the l5DN that is exchanged between each event, as seen in current ACD applications.
It is connected to a network interface 46 that translates events and X,25.

At agent station 22, the agent application is embedded within agent state machine 48 (agent state is described in FIG. 4). Personnel output to the agents is managed within the integration station 22 by an agent interface subsystem 50 using the X-Windows standard.

In call router 18, network interface 46 provides data to event processor 52, which tracks system status as seen in call router 18 and filters incoming events to the appropriate subsystem. Announce the process.

Event handler 52 includes a state manager that is responsive to the agent state associated with the most recent call and any router events in the agent state table.

Routing events are processed by a routing translator 54, which translates the user-programmed call routing (depending on the particular ACD application) into a means for determining which agent station should receive the incoming call. However, this will be explained with reference to FIG.

The actions selected by routing translator 54 are performed by event processor 52.

In the call router 18, a network interface layer 46 and a communication driver layer 44 function as receiving means for receiving agent status messages and call arrival messages from the network 14, while a routing translator 53 and an event handler 52 acts as a routing means responsive to the receiving means when the agent generates a routing signal (a call transmission request as described below with particular reference to FIG. 5) on the network 14 to connect an incoming call to an agent station. .

Management Information System (Mis) 56 using an associated database (commercially available from Infomex Software Co., Ltd., Menlo Park, California) is an AC
We will take a look at the history of the reporting function of D System 10.

Historical data, including call records and agent results, is sent from the event processor 52 to the MIS system 56 where it is stored as a table in an associated database. These reports are prepared in response to database queries and can be accessed directly by agent monitors or system administrators.

Event handler 52 queries MI 356 at the user's sign-on (agent station 20.22, agent monitoring station 42 or system management station 43) for password confirmation and other user data.

MIS 56 is initiated by system management station 43 at the system facility. Start-up procedures and start-up data in downstream systems are extracted by querying from permanent storage in the database.

Database questions are based on the 5structured Query Language, which is a standard for related databases.
ge (SQL) Informix version
Use n. An agent can also access its own execution history through database queries (
(Omitted in Figure 3 for brevity).

A system administrator at system management station 43 can configure program call routing within the ACD system (eg, allocation of agents to pools) and ACT through the program editing and copying functions of administrator state machine 58.

The compilation program is installed into the system by using appropriate routines within the 11f image processor 52. For efficiency, link the progeramurobody directly (
(not shown in FIG. 3), the routing translator 5
It may also be transmitted to 4. The processor 52 includes an administrator status machine 58 with alarms and provides other status information necessary for real-time monitoring of system functionality.

Agent monitoring station 42 and system management station 43 are connected to call router 18 and MISC system 56 by local or remote networking.
It has its own state machine 58 connected to.

In FIG. 3, the linkage is shown as local for simplicity, and in FIG. 1 as remote.

If the supervisor or system management station is remote, the administrator state machine connects network service interface 16 and network 14 in a linkage to image processor 52 and MIS system 56 via communications software.

Administrator interface 60 provides an interactive display of current system status and provides an interactive display for maintaining, diagnosing, programming, and configuring the ACD system.

In small scale systems, call router 18, agent monitoring station 42 and system management station 43 share a single processing platform. In large systems, the MIS function of call router 18 has a dedicated processor with improved functionality, and the agent supervisor and system management displays are offloaded to individual management stations.

The information to be displayed is determined by sign-on settings by the administrative entity (eg, agent supervisor or system administrator). If the agent monitor is also capable of acting as an agent, the station will also incorporate the functionality of an agent station 22.

Agent station 20.22, call router
18 and other ACD system 10 components are programmed to provide agent status, agent selection, call transfer functions, and other written functions.

Operations Before describing the typical operation of ACD system 10 with respect to selecting an agent to handle an incoming call and routing the call to that agent, reference will be made to the agent state diagram of FIG. 4 for agent states at an agent station. Explain in detail.

The agent station transitions through a number of states that are visible to the agent on a CRT or other interactive display at the agent station. Each state includes a change in display screen within at least one window (some states have more than one screen).

Multiple functions are accessible from a certain state,
This does not appear on a different screen, but rather by updating the display screen.

The agent can initiate state transitions or functions within a state using command keys provided on the interactive display.

In Figure 4, the agent state is indicated by a circle, and the key operated by the agent to start the state transition and the message displayed to the agent during the transition state are indicated near the arrows between each state. There is.

The main differences between the two groups of states in Figure 4 are:
Whether the agent is signed on or functionally verified by the ACD system 10, and whether the agent station is in a normal IDLEN state when not in use.

By pressing the sign-on key, the agent transitions from the sign-on state in which the agent has entered a confirmation signal, a password, and any session-dependent parameters to the call router 18, and starts functioning by receiving a sign-on message. Get permission.

Through the sign-on process, an X,25N virtual circuit is formed between each agent station and the call router 18, and a change in the agent state necessary for ffi to the call router 18 is sent to the call router 1 by the X,25 message.
8.

Similarly, an agent can end its work session by pressing the INOFF key from the IDLE state.

After completing authorization and providing any session wrap-up information, the agent is authorized to cease operation by receiving a sign-off message.

During the sign-on state, all incoming and outgoing calls that may be made by the agent are considered business calls and are written to call router 18 and reported to system management station 43.

On the other hand, while in the sign-off state, two or more adults can make or receive calls, such as personal calls, but these are not reported to the call router 18. That is, as soon as the agent is signed off, the call router 18 will no longer forward calls to the agent.

Even if a failure occurs in the call router 18, agents can continue to operate in a "decorate" mode by sending and receiving calls in a signed-off state.

Pressing the bypass key allows the agent to transition directly to the IDLEN state from any other state of the C mode. This allows for a quick escape in the event of a system failure or other unexpected trouble.

This system 11 has five “telephone” states (SETUP, I
DLE, HOLD, RINGING and ACTIVE)
and two “test” states (TEST and C0NF IG
URE). These are used when agents are signed off or signed on with similar but not identical directions.

In the state diagram, "So" is used as an abbreviation for "signed on," and "N" is used as an abbreviated symbol for "not signed on." For example, in the signed-on state, an agent station test is performed by the TESTs state, while in the signed-on state, the agent station test is performed by the TESTN state. Because some hardware-oriented tests must be performed only during the sign-off period, these tests exist as distinct (and some overlapping) test sets. Also, some communication-orientation tests require the assistance of a call router 18 (eg, an X,25 loop back between agent and router 1) and therefore must be performed during sign-on.

During sign-on, the agent exists in the lower half of the state diagram and can belong to the states listed below.

IDLEs: This state confirms that the agent is active and does not wish to receive calls. The agent uses this state for operations that are not related to specific calls or time remaining.

After signing on, the agent can access this state from which it can access test and configuration features. Furthermore, the agent can make an outgoing call or sign off from the IDLE8 state. Normally, ■DLE
Transition to the s state is obtained by pressing the IDLE key.

READY: In this state, the agent is in the H/4Kg state for receiving incoming calls. Such calls are routed from call router 18 according to the protocol shown in FIG. 5 and described below.

A call transmission is referred to as an incoming call message in the state diagram of FIG.

The agent can also call R by pressing the call key.
Outgoing calls can be made from the EADY state,
Alternatively, the device can be placed in a state where it cannot receive incoming calls by pressing the IDLE key.

Inherent synchronization is provided for any transition from the READY state. Therefore, incoming calls can be received while the agent is attempting to transition to other states.

Accordingly, each state marked (*) in the state diagram of FIG. 4 will be subject to the simultaneous protocol described below in connection with FIGS. 7a and 7b.

If an incoming call is being handled, this call takes precedence over the agent's outgoing call or setting to idle.

This synchronization is fast enough to be obvious to the agent. The sound begins and the agent's button presses are ignored.

If the incoming call sender disconnects, a disconnection message is transmitted to the agent station, which returns the agent station to the READY state. During the agent sign-on state, incoming calls are received by the agent station only if authorized by call router 18. The process for this permission will be explained in connection with FIG.

Normally, transition to the READY state is obtained by pressing the READY key.

5ETUPS: This state is used to place calls. The digits are collected and analyzed by agent stations to provide fast dialing and internal numbering plans. This 5ETUPS state includes I
A transition can be made from the DLEs or READY state by pressing the call key.

RINGINGs: This state is passed when an incoming call is received. An incoming transmission message is provided at the end of the transmission protocol shown in FIG. R.E.
Upon transition from the ADY state to the RINGINGS state, a tone appears on the agent's headset 26, followed on some devices by a VRU message containing information about the type of call (e.g., confirmation of the caller, information about this customer, etc.). (context information, type of service request, etc.) The agent can then answer the call by pressing an answer key, or alternatively can enter the ACTIVE 8 state directly via an answer message generated by call router 18.

The call is then assigned to a call appearance on the visual display at the agent station.

If the incoming caller disconnects, a disconnect message is sent to the agent station, which returns the agent to the READY state.

ACTIvEs: is in this state whenever an agent is talking to a customer during sign-on. Situations where multiple calls occur are handled by holding the secondary calls, similar to the hold calls performed in the ACT I VEs state.

To transition from the ACTIVE 8 state, use the READ
Y key (put agent in READY state), ID
LEs key (set the agent to IDLE8 state),
or the WRAP-UP key (to set the agent to WRAP-UP)
UP state). In all these cases, it is stopped when the customer's call has not yet ended.

HOLDs: This state allows the agent to switch to another current outgoing call to consult, transfer, or place a call.

The agent can switch between current outgoing calls by pressing the Call Presentation (CA) key, which switches the agent station to this text corresponding to the current outgoing call to which it wants to switch.

This text toggle from a call in the ACTIvEs state sets the call manifestation to the HOLD state. Then, by pressing the call appearance key corresponding to the call in the HOLD8 state, the call appearance is set to the ACTIVE state.

Functions such as call transmission require two call legs, one in the ACT I VE state;
The other one requires a callerage in the HOLD state.

WRAP-UP: In this state, the agent may perform any operations on the current call that must be performed before accepting other calls, such as information input regarding sales or announcements for callbacks.

TESTs: All tests that can be performed in the signed-on state are accessible from this state. It includes tests such as: That is, communication test (X, 25 1oop
back, Q, 930 and Q, 931 test, link
reset), application testing (interaction with specific applications), VRU testing, non-intrusive agent instrument testing (headset functionality,
memory allocation, some PCTA and CPU diagnostics), etc.

C0NFIGURE: All configuration parameters that can be configured in the signed-on state can be accessed in this state. It includes things like:

One password conversion One manual set or call transmission mote automatic connection - Agent pool allocation reset.

During signoff, the agent is in the upper half of the state diagram and can be in the following states:

IDLEN: Similar to the IDLEs state above in that all tests and calls originate from this state. However, in this state the agent station functions like a normal telephone set and its operation is not dependent on call router messages. Further, from this state, the agent does not send the X,25 message to the call router 18.

5ETUPN: This approximates the 5ETUPS state.

ACTIVE: This approximates the ACTIVE8 state, which includes support for multi-call emergence.

The display in this case does not include account information that can be used while signed on.

HOLD: This approximates the HOLDs state.

TESTN: Any test that can be performed in the signed-on state is accessible from this state. Tests include the following: That is, the limited communication test (Q, 9
30 and Q, 931 tests, link rest) and agent instrument tests (headset functionality, memory allocation, PCTA and CPU diagnostics, and power tests).

C0NFIGURE: All configuration parameters that can be set in the sign-on state can be accessed in this state. This includes the Est. ID set.

The sign-off state can optionally have two impossible states so that the sign-on state and the sign-off state are completely symmetrical. That is, READY
and WRAPUPN.

The description of the status is READY8 and WRAPU respectively.
It is similar to the PS case, but in the signoff state, the state transition is performed by the agent state machine 4 in the agent station.
The difference is that it is managed by 8. Also, in this state, the call router is not available for processing incoming calls, so the transition from READYN is not synchronous.

Transfers incoming calls to a second agent station
Figure 5 shows the protocol used to transmit a call from the call router 18 to the agent stage, and Figure 6 shows the decision analysis used to determine which agent should receive the call. .

Typically, when an incoming call occurs ("10" in Figure 2), the call router 18 determines which agent station should receive the call and forwards the call to the determined agent station ("2" in Figure 2). fj3 and instructs network 14 to connect incoming calls directly to the agent station.
After "3°" in Figure 2, disconnect the connection.

When an incoming call is placed by 12 to a telephone number of ACD system 10, network 14 provides a call arrival message to call router 18 indicating that the call has been set up and optionally including a call line identification (CLID). At the 15DN interface 16 a call reference number is assigned for the call router 18, for example CR-1 (FIGS. 2 and 5).

Call router 18 references logic within routing translator 54 and data managed by event processor 52 to determine which station should receive the call. The selected agent station is RE
It is one of those in the ADY state (the event handler 52 keeps the agent state table of agent stations in the signed-on state updated continuously with X,25 messages).

Other factors, such as agent capabilities, agent identification, agent geographic location, connection cost, service request format, dialed number, caller identification and location, may be programmed by the user within the routing translator 54. Agents can be selected according to routing patterns.

The first step in routing for an incoming call is to route the call to the specific ACD application (PJ) represented by the call.
(e.g. sales or service) to the dialed number, CLI
D. The interaction with the incoming trunk (BRI or PRE), and sometimes the automated repeater or VRU, is a decision to be made on a case-by-case basis.

- Once the application is recognized, the remaining 7j routing logic includes a user-programmed sequence of steps as shown in FIG. Each individual program! A dozen applications can be developed and compiled into logic flows maintained within the routing translator 54.

FIG. 6 shows the logic flow of call processing by the call router 18, and describes what processing is performed on a call from the start to the completion of processing.

Typically, a call is queued to one agent boolean and held for 15 seconds.

If no agent is found available to answer the call during this period, the call is queued in front of the second group of agents and an announcement for the incoming call is made by the VRU 38 or 40.

If the call is not answered for an additional 10 seconds, it is similarly queued in front of a third group of agents.

ACD system 10 then performs repeated announcements (in addition to "Hold Period 1g") until the call is processed.

Event handler 52 performs the events required at each step traversing the call flow. An advantage of separating these functions is that call flow changes at a hole location, or flow changes made at the same location, can be accomplished only within the routing translator 54.

Specifically, in FIG. 6, event handler 52 provides call control to routing translator 54 to initiate call processing and select a first routing event. Routing translator 54 determines the first action (adding a call to agent Boolean 1) and controls event handler 52 for its execution.

If there is an agent station in the READY state, the IG controller 52 selects one agent station according to the agent queue rule [1 (e.g., 1st in 1st out) and carries the call. This logic is used to complete the routing process for this call. If not, the event handler 5
2 transmits control to the routing translator 54 to determine the next step (hold for 15 seconds).

Event handler 52 then sets a timer for 15 seconds to perform this step.

If the agent releases during these 15 seconds,
The event is notified to the event processor 52.
assigns agents to - of the waiting calls according to priority.

If no agents are available for this call, the call will be processed after the 15 second timeout.
The agent 52 returns the call to the routing translator 54 for selection of the next step (add to agent pool).

If no agent is available to respond quickly,
Control is passed back to the routing translator 54 to determine the next step (10 holds).

This is to return control to the routing translator 54 when the 10 seconds for confirming the next step (execution of message number 4 arbitrarily numbered in Figure 6) has expired as described above. Processed by

Event handler 52 executes the directed message and allows the message to be interrupted and the call to be carried if the appropriate agent is free.

At the end of the message, the event processor 52 returns control to the routing translator 54 to select the next step (addition of agent Boolean 3). The 5 second hold, 10 second execution, and 10 second hold events are then processed as described above.

After a second 10 second hold, the routing translator 54
observes a 5 second hold as the following event due to a loopback in the logic.

The call routing process is complete when an agent is ready to assign a call to one of the pools being surveyed. When this occurs, event handler 52
carries the call and completes the routing process.

In FIG. 5, call router 18, which has selected an agent station to receive an incoming call, sends a call bending X, 25 message to the agent station to inform it that the agent station will accept the call.

The call router 18 then initiates a call to the agent station, resulting in an associated set-up call reference CR-2 on its 15DN interface 16 and an associated set-up call reference CR-2 on the agent stage interface 16 connected to the agent station. Setup call reference CR-
3 occurs.

Public telephone network 14 is connected to C for call router 18.
Having issued a call processing authorization for R-2, the agent station sends an optional call processing authorization for CR-3 to the public telephone network 14 (items in brackets in FIG. 5 are optional).

Announcement CR-3 supplied to the public telephone network 14 when a blow occurs on the agent station line.
A message is also present, which triggers an announcement CR-2 message to Call Router 18 to inform Call Router 18 that the connection to CR-2 is currently being blown.

When the agent answers, there is a connection CR-3 message delivered to the public telephone network 14 and confirmation to the agent station that the network has received and accepted the connection message (if the agent does not answer, This condition is announced by an alarm and the next available agent is selected.)

The public telephone network 14 then provides a connection message to the call router 18 to report that the agent has answered, and the call router 18 provides a connection authorization to the network (this connection is shown in FIG.
2”).

Call router-18 holds CR- to network
2 message holds the agent station and the network accepts this message.

The call router 18 then places a vending call X, 25 to the agent station to inform the agent station that the call is being routed to the agent station.
Transmit a message. At this time, call router 18 connects the incoming call on CR-1 by providing an announcement CR-1 message and a connect CR-1 message to the network (this connection is referred to as "1" in FIG.
).

the network provides a connection authorization CR-1 message;
As a result, the call router 18 starts the transmission function for establishing mutual telephone connection in CR-1 and CR-2 on the 15DNttS public telephone network 14 (
This connection is shown as "3" in FIG. 2).

If this is successfully accomplished by the network, the network provides a transmission authorization message to call router 18. The call router 18 then supplies X, 25 messages for transmission management to the agent station, and also sends X, 25 messages from the agent station to the agent station.
Receives and receives transmitted messages.

If the agent station is an automated agent station, the automated agent is driven to the appropriate state indicated by an optional force transition (response) message.

Optionally, call router 18 can also provide tones or other indications to the agent station. This puts the caller on hold and requires them to reestablish a connection to the agent until the transmission is accomplished.

After the transmission is complete, the network
from CR-1, Call Router 18 releases the connection and receives permission from the network.

The network then releases CR-2 in the same manner, and call router 18 releases CR-2 and receives a release completion message from the network.

The protocol in FIG. 5 is a method for automatically transmitting an incoming call from a first network station (call router 18) to a second network station (selected agent station).
, where the selection of the second network station is performed on a call-by-call basis. This protocol has three important features described below.

First, the call bending (Call #) message in the protocol is the destination agent state for information.
advance notice of the characteristics of an incoming telephone call to the telephone before the call is actually transmitted.

This pre-announcement includes information provided by the call router 18 regarding acceptance conditions or rejection of the call by the agent station.

In particular, pre-announcements are used to enable calls to be accepted by an agent station, such as a description of the caller determined by the call router 18 based on a CLID that may subsequently be displayed at the agent station. It is.

Pre-announcement can also be used to provide other collateral call information to the agent station before the call arrives.

As a second feature, the protocol of FIG. 5 can perform backward communication in call retransmission processing. FIG. 5 shows a connection message (acting as a response signal) from the destination agent station to the call router 18.
Call vending messages (acting as V-transfer call announcement signals) sent via announcement communications are sent to the router.
There are backward permissions for sending.

Since only messages destined for the router can be received in the READY state, each announcement (alarm) and connection message to the router announces to the rougoo that its call has been accepted by the agent station.

Explicit return authorization can also achieve the same objective.

Backward communication from the agent station to call router 18 allows calls to be routed to other destinations.

If the selected agent does not establish a connection in response to the setup message, the next candidate agent is selected upon request. Typically, call router 18 can select another destination when the first selection fails.

Furthermore, the ringing (and the corresponding start of telephone company charge counting) is postponed until a receivable destination is determined.

Also, the call can be rejected if no acceptable destination is found, which may be most useful in cases such as non-ACD applications.

Another advantage of backward acknowledgment is the ability to positively label a call with a disputed identity throughout the network.

If multiple calls were transmitted from Call Router 18 to an agent station, the packed word acknowledgment would ensure that the call identity assigned by Call Router 18 was retained by the agent station. . This feature allows call pre-stages to be redragged by call router 18 regardless of the number of agents or VRUs involved in the process.

Finally, the packed word acknowledgment process provides an opportunity for unambiguous display of connection settings. The reason is that a tone can be placed on the line to the caller or agent that disappears with the transmission action.

A third feature is that the protocol according to FIG. 5 allows network call retransmission to be performed based on all available information about the call.

This includes tone responses to call line identity or any other prompts.

Automated attendants 38,40 are used to obtain additional information that is used by call router 18 to determine which agent station should receive an incoming call.

When the call router 18 receives the CLID or confirmation information for the incoming call, this information is used to retrieve the customer record from the external host processor 34 and provide the customer record to the agent station upon request.

Information entered by the agent during the call and during the WRAPUP state is sent to the external host processor 3 for recording.
4.

The interface to external host processor 34 allows ACD system 10 to cooperate with certain other data processing systems related to ACD business (eg, advertising or inventory, etc.).

An example of such an interface is Svitc
h-Computer Applications In
surface working
ANSI 5standards Group Tl51
．． 1. Docusant Tl51.189-231.
, and Es1l Vang, ' Intelllgc
nt Cal Processing in Out
osatlc Ca1l DlstrIbutors-
, Business Co+uunlcat1ons
Review, January-February,
1988, and has been implemented in the following products.

That is, Ca1l Path (IBM),
Adjunct-8vltch AppHcatlon
Interface (AT&T l5DN/DMI
User's Group), and Comp
uter Integrated Telephony
(DEC) etc.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are partial state diagrams depicting the process for synchronizing and customizing agent state transitions from the perspective of call router 18 and agent stations. Similar basic methods are used for both state synchronization of state diagrams and user customization. In the latter case, the purpose is to bypass or transition states to meet the needs of a particular ACD application.

FIG. 7A shows a portion of the full agent state diagram (FIG. 4) considering only the sign-on telephone state, excluding call origination and transmission functions.

In the figure, the transition number 102 from the READY state to the IDLE state is synchronized between the agent station and the call router. Otherwise, a new call may be transmitted from call router 18 to the agent station (via transition 103) as soon as the agent station idles transition. Therefore, transition 1
02 and 103 must be synchronized with each other.

The method used by the agent station to subsequently synchronize with the call router 18 is to request the agent station to migrate and wait for this request to be granted by the call router 18. This request is made by sending a transfer request message from the agent station to call router 18, and permission is made by sending a forced response signal message from call router 18 to the agent station. Efficiency is achieved by placing the agent station in an intermediate state while waiting, in which it ignores all other keystrokes made by other agents.

The synchronous state transition with transition number 102 has the following message sequence. That is, when the agent presses the idle key from the READY state, a transition request message is sent to the call router 18, and the call router 8 sends a strong control DLE response signal message when the agent does not have any calls pending. Send it back.

Otherwise, the agent will be placed in the READY state until the call arrives.

This protocol can be applied to all state transitions. However, better performance can be obtained by making the majority of each transition asynchronous and having the agent simply perform the state transition and announce its state to the call router 18 by sending a transition announcement message. can.

In FIG. 7B, transitions including transition requests are indicated by dotted lines, and transitions including transition announcements are indicated by solid lines.

The agent station maintains a transition table that provides the appropriate transition for each state transition.

This is done with 2 bit fields for each transition,
The permitted forms of transition in that case are request, announcement, ignore, or error (disallowance). To customize the state diagram using this synchronization protocol, change the transition table in the agent station so that the Call Router 18 can use force response signaling messages to return from the requested state to a different state. That's all you need.

Call Router 18 maintains a response table listing the appropriate force response signal messages used to respond to each synchronized migration backwater.

FIG. 7B shows a case in which the agent state diagram according to FIG. 7A has been modified to prevent the use (and efficient deletion) of the WRAPUP state. For this,
Transition 109 is changed to a synchronous transition and transitions 110 and 11
1 results in an error in the migration table at the agent station.

In the response table within call router 18, transition 1
09 is set to be in the IDLE state, thereby forcing the agent holding down the WRAPUP key to be in the IDLE state.

This method is also used to specify customized state diagrams on each application basis. In this case, a migration table and a response table are developed for each application, and application fields are added to the migration message.

Once the call application is determined by the call router 18, this is communicated to the agent by a x,25 message (eg, call bending).

The agent station uses an application to find the relevant portion of the migration table and includes this application in each migration request message, thereby eliminating the need for Call Router 18 to examine it. The response table determines the appropriate forced response signal message (depending on the application) for each synchronization transition request.

Another use for customized state diagrams is to respond to system-specific conditions. for example,
In cases where a large number of callers are already in the service waiting state, the system can reduce the number of agent states required for call processing. This is W
Can be used when the RAPUP state is used to enter technical but not essential information about the customer's business, and the number of customers in the waiting state is set to a user-specified threshold (overall WRAPUP whenever the
The state can be erased.

Conversion from a normal state diagram to a tire gram with special states can be done on a call-by-call basis if the wait time of the call exceeds a threshold.

The method described above can implement this feature with normal state diagrams and special state diagrams as different applications.

Other Embodiments Other embodiments of the invention are within the scope of the following claims.

For example, in addition to the 15DN interface, other network service interfaces can function similarly as long as they have the following performance. That is, call arrival signal transmission, call transmission control by call router, connection between caller and agent station,
Communication of control messages from the call router to the agent station and status messages generated at the agent station to the call router.

These are only connection settings and control performance. Since the router communicates with the agent stations, the network interface does not provide any specific functionality related to the operation of the ACD (such as agent monitoring).

The present invention requires only the normal communication functions of the network service interface.

Wideband I SDN interface (Internat
lonal and domestic U, S, 5tan
dard bodies, CCITT recommend
development version 1.121) is also available.

The interface to call router 18 has “800
``Common channel signal transmission with services (CC5),
For example, G, G, Schlanger, ”AN
0vcrvlev or Signallng Sys
tem No. 7-, IEEE Journal
on 5 selected Areas 1n Co+n
unicat1ons, Volume 5AC-4,
Nusbcr3. May, 1986''.

The CCS interface can also be used for controlling the transmission of calls to the agent by the call router-18, where agent-to-router communication is still contained in the 15DN and X,25. In particular, the network can become aware of the call router 18 of the call attendee before the call is actually routed to the call router 18;
This allows call router 18 to instruct the network to route the call to the destination selected by the router. In addition to the CCS interface, call router 18 can use the X.25 interface for agent monitoring.

In addition to public telephone networks, private networks and combinations of various networks can also be used.

This embodiment includes a substantially private network using a PBX or 15DN (i.e., a network provided by a telephone line but appearing to the user as a personal network), or any arbitrary network provided at the network layer with the above-mentioned connection control capability. rural/urban/wide area networks (e.g., IEEE 802 Comm1
(such as those standardized in tteeS) are also included.

In an 15DN network, instead of having all communications between call routers and agent stations via X.25 messages, some communications are
Standardized to Standard Group Tl51
．． 1 89-144 April 25.1989 may be used.

Each agent station has a different state than that shown in FIG. That is, in the implementation of the present invention, the agent station has the ability to represent the entire system under the control of the call router.

Multi-call router 18 and agent monitoring station 42 are used in large system configurations, where terminal station functionality is combined with agent station functionality when a supervisor functions as an agent during periods of high system loading.

77. Different call router functions can be separated and placed at different locations in the network. For example, one part of the call router receives agent status messages, monitors agent status,
It can be implemented in each individual agent monitoring station that connects the agent station and the rest of the call router via a network and network service interface.

Incoming calls to agent stations (instead of always being blocked) are intercepted by call router 18 for further processing. 11 Specifically, the agent station announces to the call router 18 that a call has arrived W to be delivered directly to the agent station by sending an X,25 message to the call router 18 for processing.

Call router 18 then determines whether to accept or reject the call, or to route the call to another agent station selected by the routing logic.

The arrival of a call is not necessarily visible to the agent at the agent station.

In this device, incoming calls to the ACD may be received at different locations for each caller.

Features of the invention are also applicable to non-telephone systems. Instead of transmitting a telephone call to an agent, the system can also be used to automatically configure a service requesting station and one of a plurality of agent services that provide application-specific agent status to the station.

For example, application stations may be capable of executing programs related to various aspects of a user's business, and connection requests may be assigned to stations capable of executing programs or data files corresponding to requested services. This means that incoming or internal connection requests can be transmitted to the station that is best set to perform the task. The application station can also be operated by an operator or mechanized means.

Examples of applications include computer-aided software engineering (CASE) environments (e.g.
ECSIBM or Hewlett-Packa
This can be specified by software development in a development system (such as a development system commercially available from R.D.).

Agent stations can be determined by active CASE tool processes, data files in use, active connections, etc.

Call Router 18, aware of agent application status, can automatically route internal or external requests for information or software support to the agent currently performing the associated work. Other automated agents are represented by centralized development sources.

Even in these non-ACD environments, l5DN, PRI and BR
Network service interfaces other than the I-interface are such that they provide functions such as call arrival signaling, control of call transmission by the call router, communication between the call originator and the agent station, and communication between the agent station and the call router. It is operable as long as the For example, the B-ISDN network service interface can control connections involving the transmission of digital data signals or the transmission of image or video signals.

The network may also be an X.25 data network, a local area network, or a wide range network with call retransmission or deflection capabilities.

The system has receiving means for receiving agent status messages and service request messages from the network and also generates routing signals that are provided to the network for connecting the service request stage and the agent application station via a communication connection. It also has a routing means.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, telephone calls generated on the network can be automatically transmitted to each agent station connected to the network via the network service interface. It is possible to provide an automatic call transmission method and system that is inexpensive, requires minimal maintenance work, and has excellent performance.

[Additional notes] Based on the above embodiments, it is also suitable for the present invention to adopt the following aspects.

(1) The system of claim (1), wherein the routing signal is based on characteristics of each agent station, thereby allowing incoming calls to be routed to the appropriate agent station.

(2) The system according to claim (1), wherein the network is a public telephone network.

(3) The system according to claim (1), wherein the network is a private telephone network.

(4) In the system described in (2) or (3) above, the receiving means is connected to a network via an 15DN interface.

(5) The system described in (2) above is characterized in that the receiving means is connected to a network via a CCS interface.

(6) In the system described in (5) above, the CC
The S interface is used for call arrival messages and routing signals, and the packet switching data interface is used for agent status messages.

(7) The system according to claim (1), wherein the receiving means and the routing means are incorporated in a personal computer or a workstation.

(8) The system according to claim (1), wherein the receiving means and the routing means are built into a main frame or a minicomputer.

(9) The system according to claim (1), wherein the receiving means is executed by a communication drive layer and a network interface layer.

(10) In the system described in (7) or (8) above, the personal computer or workstation uses a UNIX operating system.

(11) In the system according to claim 1),
Each of the characteristics is transmitted to the routing means via the agent status message.

(12) The system according to item (1), wherein the routing signal is based on performance, confirmation, or location of the agent at the agent station.

(13) In the system described in (12) above, the routing means is used to receive a confirmation signal for confirming an agent at an agent station in a signed-on state.

(14) In the system described in (11) above, the routing signal is based on an agent status message representing the status of the agent station.

(15) The system according to claim (1), wherein the routing signal is based on characteristics of an incoming call.

(16) The system according to (15) above, wherein the routing signal is based on the dialed number or number being dialed of the incoming call.

(17) The system according to (1) above, wherein the routing signal is based on the cost of transmitting an incoming call to an agent station.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the routing means includes programmable means for selecting an agent station to receive an incoming call.

(19) In the system described in (11) above, the status message is transmitted in accordance with the X.25 standard.

(20) In the system according to (2) or (3) above, the routing signal causes the network to set up a telephone connection from the routing means to the agent station, causes the network to connect the incoming call, and It is characterized in that it is a signal that causes a telephone connection to be made to a station.

(21)! The system according to claim (1) is characterized in that it further includes a plurality of agent stations.

(22) In the system described in (21) above, the agent station is driven by a personal computer or a workstation.

(23) In the system described in (22) above, the personal computer or workstation has a display device that displays a window for displaying and calling an agent station control function and has a function executed by an agent at the agent station. It is characterized by the presence of

(24) In the system described in (21) above, the agent station has a dedicated control function for communication via a network service interface, and the station has a function to set up a connection in place of an external terminal. Features.

(25) In the system according to (21) above, the agent stage white includes means for supplying an agent state message to a routing means on a network, and the routing signal supplied by the routing means is indicated in the agent state message. It is characterized by the fact that it is based on the agent's state.

(26) In the system described in (25) above, each agent station has a plurality of agent states in which the agent station does not transmit an agent state message to the routing means under the sign-off condition, and a plurality of agent states in which the agent station does not transmit the agent state message to the routing means during the sign-on condition. It is characterized in that it can be set to a plurality of states for supplying agent state messages to the routing means.

(27) In the system described in (26) above, the agent station has means for receiving and initiating a call under a sign-on condition, and starts the call under a sign-on condition.

(28) In the system described in (26) above, the agent station includes means for starting a call to the routing means in response to a call start signal, and the routing means responds to a call start signal to send a call to the destination. 1 is characterized in that it includes means for selecting a story.

(29) The system according to (28) above, wherein the routing means generates a routing signal that is supplied to a network for connecting the agent station initiating an outgoing call to the destination telephone via the network. It is characterized by including the means of.

(30) The system according to (26) above, wherein the agent station has means for preventing the agent station from receiving a call unless the call is transmitted by the routing means during the sign-on condition. shall be. (31) Above (
In the system according to item 25), the agent station includes means for causing the content of the call arrival message to be sent to the receiving means when the incoming call is directed to the agent station by the network without being transmitted by the routing means. It is characterized by containing.

(32) In the system described in (26) above, - among the states in the sign-on conditions of the agent station is the READY state, and the routing signal is used only for incoming calls to the agent station in the READY state. It is characterized by transmitting.

(33) In the system described in (26) above, - of each state in the sign-on condition is a HOLD state, and during the HOLD state, - or a plurality of states until the agent actively connects to another call. Characteristically, the call is placed in a HOLD state.

(34) The system according to (21) above, further characterized in that the agent station includes an automated agent.

(35) The system described in (21) above is characterized in that it further includes an interactive display terminal for interacting with a human agent.

(36) The system according to claim (1), further comprising an automated repeater or voice response unit connected to the network for communicating incoming calls.

(37) The system according to (36) above, characterized in that the automated repeater or voice response unit is connected by a routing means to communicate with the incoming call before providing a routing signal by the routing means. shall be.

(38) The system according to (36) above, characterized in that the automated repeater or voice response unit is connected to a routing means over a network via a network service interface.

(39) The system according to (36) above, characterized in that the automated repeater or voice response unit is directly connected to the routing means.

(40) In the system described in 2rt requirement (1),
further comprising an external host processor containing information relating to business directed by the automatic call transmission system, the external host processor being connected to provide information to and receive information from the system. shall be.

(41) In the system described in (40) above, the external host processor is connected to communicate with the agent station over a network.

(42) The system of (40) above, wherein the routing means receives customer identification information regarding an incoming call, and the external host processor provides customer information to agent stations selected by the routing means for updating. It is characterized by

(43) In the system described in Zi claim (1),
a system management station connected to receive system information from the routing means regarding operation of the automatic call transmission system and to provide control signals to the routing means, the system management station transmitting system +11 information; In addition to displaying the above 1.
an interactive display for receiving human input for generating a control signal, said control signal comprising a signal for programming generation of a routing signal by said routing means;

(44) The system according to claim 1, wherein an agent monitoring station is connected at the agent station to receive execution information regarding the execution of the agent from the routing means and to supply control signals to the routing means. the agent station includes an interactive display for displaying the agent execution information and receiving human input for generating the control signals, the control signals relating to instructions for monitored agent activity; Features.

(45) In the system described in (43) or (44) above, the system management station or agent monitoring station is directly connected to routing means.

(46) In the system according to (43) or (44) above, a personal computer or workstation drives the receiving means and the routing means,
The system management station or agent monitoring station is preferably incorporated into the personal computer or workstation.

(47) In the system described in (23) or (44) above, the system management station or agent monitoring station is located remotely from the routing means, and the system management station or agent monitoring station is located remotely from the routing means, and It is characterized in that it is connected via a network service interface.

(4g) i The system according to claim (1), characterized in that the network transmits either digital data, voice, image or video signals of incoming calls to the agent station.

(49) In the system according to claim 2),
The agent station has means for waiting for a forced response signal from the state manager before changing the state when a migration request is sent f3, and a forced response for changing the state when a migration notification is sent. The present invention is characterized in that it includes means for canceling signal waiting.

(50) In the system described in (49) above, the agent station is in an ACTI VE state in which an incoming telephone call is connected, a READY state in which the agent station is ready to receive an incoming telephone call, and a READY state in which the agent station is ready to receive an incoming telephone call. or a plurality of other states, wherein the agent station is configured to monitor transitions from the READY state to the one or more other states.
or a plurality of human powered devices, wherein the agent station has means for providing a transition request upon activation of the human powered device, and the station administrator moves the agent station from a READY state to one or more other states. The present invention is characterized in that it has means for sending a forced response signal for causing the change to occur.

(51) In the system described in (50) above, the various states include an ETUP state and an idle state in which the agent station can make an outgoing telephone call.

(52) In the system according to (52) above, the agent station is configured to detect a plurality of agent states associated with a sign-off condition in which each agent station does not transmit the agent state message to a call router device, and each of the agent states. (53) The system according to (52) above, further characterized in that the station can be set to a plurality of states associated with sign-on conditions for supplying agent state messages to the call router device. programmably changes the state according to
It is characterized by including means for programmably changing the state in accordance with state requests.

(54) In the system described in (53) above, each agent station includes means for holding a transition table that determines which state transitions are accompanied by a transition notification and which state transitions satisfy a transition request, The agent station is also characterized in that it includes a human power device for initiating an agent state transition and means for referencing the transition table upon receiving the human power from the input device.

(55) The system according to (54) above, wherein the table includes error entries for transitions between two agent states, and the means for programmably modifying the error entry in the transition table of an agent station. means for locating an entry, said error entry indicating that a transition between two agent states is not possible, thereby specifying a functional state of the agent station;

(56) The system according to item (2), further comprising means for maintaining a response table in the call router device for determining which forced response signal is applied to which transition request. It is characterized by

(57) The system of (55) above, wherein the means for programmably changing varies the transition table entries as a function of the number of incoming calls occurring during the automated call forwarding system. shall be.

(58) The system of (56) above, wherein the means for programmably changing means for varying the entries of the response table as a function of the number of incoming calls occurring in an I-mobile call transmission system. It is characterized by including.

(59) W The system according to item (3) is characterized in that each agent station is provided with a state machine for determining each state thereof.

(60) H The method according to item (4) further includes the step of connecting the incoming call to the transmission device after receiving the response signal in the call receiving device.

(61) The method according to claim (4), wherein the incoming call announcement signal is a call hold signal.

(62) In the method described in (60) above, the incoming call announcement signal is a call hold signal.

(63) In the method described in (60) above, the incoming call is not connected to the transmission device until after the transmission device finishes answering the call.

(64) In the method of (63) above, the tone is provided by the call receiving device to inform the transmitting device that the incoming call has been connected to the transmitting device when the tone ends. It is characterized by

(65) The method described in (60) above, characterized in that the transmitting device does not respond to incoming calls that are not sent during the sign-on condition by the call receiving device.

(66) The method according to (60) above, characterized in that the transmitting device is provided with a pre-announcement message carrying information regarding the nature of the incoming call from the call receiving device.

(67) In the method described in (60) above, the incoming call announcement signal and the response signal are transmitted in accordance with the X.25 standard.

(68) The method according to claim (5), characterized in that the transmitting device does not respond to incoming calls that are not sent during the sign-on condition by the call receiving device.

(69) W The method according to claim (6), characterized in that the transmission device is provided with a pre-announcement message carrying information regarding the nature of the incoming call.

70. The system of claim 7, wherein the routing signal is based on the status signal to route the incoming service request to an appropriate agent service provisioning station.

(71) The system according to claim (7), wherein the network is an X,25 network.

(72) In the system according to (70) above, the network is a local network or a wide area network.

(73) Zi The system according to claim 7), characterized in that the communication includes communication of digital data signals.

(74) In the system described in ffi request 7),
The communication is characterized in that it includes communication of audio, image or video signals.

(75) The system according to claim (7), further comprising a plurality of agent service supply stations.

(76) In the system according to (75) above, each agent service provision station includes means for supplying each agent status message to the routing means throughout the network, and the routing means supplied by the routing means The signal is characterized in that it is based on the agent state indicated in the agent state message.

(77) In the system described in (40) above, the external processor sends agent selection information to a routing means, and the routing signal is based on the agent selection information.

(78) In the method described in (60) above, the response signal confirms the incoming call, thereby confirming the identity of the incoming call.

(79) The system of claim (1) or (7), wherein the receiving means includes portions located at two different locations, and wherein the receiving means includes a network service interface for receiving the agent status message. and second means connected via a network service interface for receiving a call arrival message from said network.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an automatic call transmission system according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating incoming call processing in the system of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the software architecture in FIG. 1. , FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the agent status and transition at the agent station in FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 6 shows an example of a protocol for transmitting an incoming call to an agent station in the system according to FIG. 1; FIG. ... 28.30 34 ... 38.40 Diagram showing the method when using call router 1, No. 7A
7B and 7B are diagrams showing the states of the agent with changes made to the transition between each state. 10 ... 12 ... 14 ... 16 ... ACD system transmitter public telephone network network service interface call router non-integrated agent station integrated agent station ... personal computer host processor ... automation repeater

Claims (7)

[Claims] (1) automatic call transmission for automatically transmitting telephone calls originating in a network through a network service interface to one of a plurality of agent stations connected to the network and for providing agent status messages to the network; A system, the system comprising: receiving means coupled to the network via a network service interface for receiving the agent state message and a call arrival message from the network indicating that an incoming call has occurred on the network; wherein the agent status message is generated at the agent station and connected to the network service interface and the receiving means via the network; an automatic call transmission system comprising: routing means for generating routing signals provided to a network for connecting agent stations; (2) An automatic call transmission system for automatically transmitting telephone calls originating on a network to one of a plurality of agent stations, the system comprising: for transmitting incoming telephone calls to each agent station; a call router device; and a plurality of agent stations connected to communicate with the call router device, the agent stations having a plurality of agent states depending on their operating states, and sending agent state messages to the call router device. the agent state message has a transition announcement indicating a transition from one state to another state and a transition request indicating a request to transition from one state to the other state; in response to a forced response signal for performing a call router, the call router device including an agent station state management device connected to receive the transition announcement and transition request and to provide the forced response signal to each agent station. An automatic call transmission system featuring: (3) An automatic call transmission system for automatically transmitting telephone calls originating on a network to one of a plurality of agent stations, the system comprising: directing incoming telephone calls to each agent station; a call router device, and a plurality of agent stations connected to communicate with the call router device, the agent stations having a plurality of agent states according to their operating states,
Each of said agent stations provides agent state messages to said call router device, said call router device programmably altering said agent state utilization as a function of the number of incoming calls occurring to an automatic call transmission system. Features an automatic call transmission system. (4) A method for automatically retransmitting an incoming telephone call occurring on a network, the method comprising the steps of: receiving an incoming telephone call signal from the network with a call receiving device; The method includes the steps of: transmitting a call announcement signal to the call transmission device; and transmitting the incoming call announcement signal as a reception signal and a response signal from the call transmission device to the call reception device. Automatic call transmission method. (5) A method for automatically rerouting an incoming telephone call originating on a network, the method comprising the steps of: receiving an incoming telephone call signal from the network at a call receiving device; and the call receiving device. A method for transmitting an automatic call, comprising the steps of: transmitting a pre-announcement message conveying information regarding characteristics of an incoming telephone call to a call transmission device; and transmitting the incoming call to the call transmission device. . (6) A method for automatically rerouting incoming telephone calls originating on a network, the method comprising the steps of: receiving at a call receiving device an incoming telephone call signal including call line recognition from the network; , selecting one of a plurality of transmission devices to receive the incoming call based on the call line recognition; and directing the incoming call to the call transmission device. Automatic call transmission method. (7) automatically establishing communication connections throughout the network between a service requesting station and one of a plurality of agent service provisioning stations connected to the network via a network service interface and providing agent status messages to the network; A system for configuring a network for receiving the agent status message and a service request message from a network representing that an incoming service request has been submitted on the network by a service request station. a receiving means connected to said network via a service interface, wherein said agent status message originates at said agent station and is communicated to said receiving means via a network service interface and a network; routing means for generating routing signals provided to a network for transmitting the incoming service request over the network to an agent service provisioning station in response to the incoming service request.